https://4.imimg.com/data4/NF/IL/MY-2662355/price-tag-500x500.jpg
I wondered why they weren’t square. The shape suggests that the corners may have been removed for inventory purposes but I would like to know for sure
WAG: so the corners of the tag wouldn’t snag the material of the clothes.
WAG to differentiate from designers labels.
My WAG is that the slopes make it so that the label will hang free and not get snagged up.
Maybe so the loop of string or elastic that goes through the hole does not get caught up on the corners when attaching the tag to product.
I’ve seen plenty of rectangular ones - here’s one and another and here’s a really old one that may explain the shape. It seems like the corners may have been cut to make it easier to rip the tag in half- in those days, one half stayed with the cashier and the other stayed on the item.
If you look at doreen’s second link, you’ll see a number of labels where the squared top corner has bent over. Cutting the corner lessens this possibility. It’s a practical feature.
I am looking at my 1945 Wellington, Ohio phone book. Quite small, more ads then phone numbers almost. It retains a bright red “hang tag” for a local business on a string tied through a punched hole in the spine and tucked inside the pages. It is the long rectangle with the clipped corners and a reinforced hole.
Dennis